China, formally the People's Republic of China (PRC), was the primary rival of the United States during the twenty-first century, with the U.S. having developed relatively warm diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union during the twentieth century in the Fallout universe. It was a military and economic superpower, able to fully compete with the U.S. and was consistently portrayed as an equal or, in certain fields, even superior to America. For instance, China attempted to be the first to drill the last sources of petroleum in the world.[1] It is implied that Americans sabotaged this attempt and that without such sabotage the Chinese would have been successful. In addition, China developed the unique 'Hei Gui' stealth armor that the United States military reverse-engineered with the deployment of its unstable, wrist-mounted Stealth Boys.

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In 2077, China was a communist nation with single-party rule.[2] The ruling political party was the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China's last head of state before the Great War was President Xin, while Chairman Cheng was the leader of the CCP. The last Chinese Ambassador to the United States was Xiu-Ling.[3]

Relations were strained with China even before the Sino-American War, as it raced with the United States to tap the last remaining oil fields deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. The work of Chinese geologists and petroleum exploration engineers was sabotaged by American spies, allowing the United States' energy company Poseidon Oil to erect an Oil Rig of their own and claim the resource. The strained relations eventually lead to the Chinese invasion of Alaska in 2066, where the Anchorage Front Line became the first and most important battlefield.

The exact details on China as a nuclear power in the Fallout universe are sketchy at best. It is not actually known how many nuclear weapons or of what types China brought to the final blasts of the Great War or even if it was the only country launching nuclear weapons at the United States, who was at that time in the midst of resource disputes with many other nations.

2066: Chinese forces under the leadership of General Jingwei successfully invaded Alaska, claiming its pipeline and oil reserves for Beijing.

2073: China became increasingly aggressive in the war, using biological weapons against American forces.[4]

2074: American T-45d power armor units, conventional infantry, and mechanized infantry divisions outfitted with the power armor were deployed to China as part of an American counter-invasion of Chinese territory, but they became bogged down on the mainland, putting a further drain on American resources and supply lines.

2076: The advanced T-51b power armor finally finished its development cycle, and the first mechanized infantry unit outfitted in this version of power armor was sent to China. The new armor allowed these troops to finally carve a swath through Chinese forces. Chinese supply lines from the East and Southeast Asian nations China had annexed began to break down. Shortly after, the cities of Shanghai and Nanjing were occupied by US forces.

2077: At some point, one of the nuclear powers began launching nuclear weapons. This resulted in a massive retaliatory response that culminated in the nuclear annihilation of the Great War on October 23, 2077.

Chinese commandos infiltrated mainland America during the Sino-American War, in order to spy on and sabotage the American war effort. Their focus was Washington, D.C., which they penetrated under the cover of Mama Dolce's factory and L.O.B. Enterprises, supported by several Chinese special forces teams. A large amount of Chinese arms were also covertly transported to the American capital city, possibly in order to equip communist sympathizers and Chinese sleeper agents and spark an insurrection that would severely affect the American ability to effectively wage war. Two agents, Agent Wan Yang and Agent Jiang, had infiltrated Point Lookout to destroy the Chinese sub SSN-37-1A that sank in American waters. The side quest The Velvet Curtain deals with this directly.

The following is based on Van Buren and has not been confirmed by canon sources.

Shortly before the Great War started in 2077, a Chinese infiltration and sabotage team discovered the Hoover Dam secret genetics laboratory - Classified Sub-Level 1C - and tried to destroy Hoover Dam, so the genetic work could never be used against them. Some of the Chinese stealth soldiers made it into Sub-Level 1C, while others were planting bombs in the main generator rooms - Scum Pits. One of the bombs went off prematurely and alerted all of Hoover Dam, including the guards in S1C. Things become cloudy in the reports due to the chaos that ensued, but suffice it to say that the Chinese were defeated, the generators were heavily damaged, and S1C was compromised. A couple of Chinese stealth soldiers and four scientists were trapped in S1C after the hatch was sealed. The Prisoner could find the soldiers there and use the materials from their stealth armor to make his own armor.[5]

Chinese Hei Gui units managed to steal Limit-115 samples during the Hoover raid, but they were killed in Denver in a crowded public area, breaking the vials with the virus, unleashing the New Plague on Denver.

The Shi inhabitants of San Francisco claim to be the descendants of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy submarine Shi-Huang-Di (named after the first Chinese emperor), washed ashore in the great nuclear EMP-produced blackout following the Great War. The Chinese survivors managed to adapt themselves to the post-nuclear world, salvaging the submarine's supercomputer, christened the Emperor by the Shi. In time, the Shi dismantled much of the submarine, eventually turning San Francisco into a center of scientific research and higher learning. The submarine was planned to play a bigger role in the game - armed with conventional missiles and hidden in the San Francisco Bay it could destroy the PMV Valdez heading to the Poseidonoil rig that was used as the headquarters of the Enclave.

When entering the area of Point Lookout, a Chinese Covert Submarine codenamed SSN-37-1A can be found stranded just off the coast of Point Lookout. This submarine was sent to "patrol hostile waters" and observe on the military officials at Turtledove Detention Camp and the naval recruiting center. Furthermore, there is evidence of at least two undercover Chinese agents who were posted as wanted in Point Lookout area. After being caught the Chinese agents were sent to the Turtledove Detention Camp, which is one of the two places the Velvet Curtain quest starts. The two Chinese agents in Point Lookout were known as agent Yang and agent Jiang. There is also a secret Chinese Intelligence bunker in the area.

Although the communists in China started the Great War, they couldn't finish it. Imperial remnants from places like Taiwan swiftly took the country back from the Reds, and crowned a new emperor of China. The new dynasty, however, did not like how America ended up in the Great War, and are building a massive missile to destroy the dangerous Brotherhood of Steel.

↑The only explicit mention of China being communist in any of the original Fallout games is in dialogue with the Enclave of United States President Dick Richardson, who called the Chinese "damn Reds"; it is also referred to as communist in the Fallout Bible timeline, in Frank Horrigan's dialogue files and the Van Buren tech demo; Fallout 3 is more explicit in its portrayal of China as a 'communist' nation, for example, during the "Tranquility Lane" quest, where the player is to activate the "communist invasion simulation" and Liberty Prime's pre-recorded anti-communist speeches input by pre-War American scientists.